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Wednesday, August 18th, 2010

John K. Samson To Release Solo EP 'Provincial Road 222'

John K. Samson is the acclaimed singer and songwriter for indie rock band The Weakerthans. The band's most recent studio release Reunion Tour garnered praise from an assortment of publications including Paste Magazine, who said of the album, "If such a prize existed, it would be the leading candidate for this year's Punk Pulitzer." This year's live album Live at the Burton Cummings Theatre was recently nominated for Western Canadian Music Award for Rock Recording of the Year.

John lives in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, where he's also the managing editor of a small publishing house. His three -song solo EP, Provincial Road 222, is the second in a series of recordings exploring streets and highways in his home province. While the first, City Route 85, was a sparse solo recording, Provincial Road 222 takes a more orchestral approach.

Provincial Road 222 runs up the side of Lake Winnipeg, north of the city, and leads to the town of Riverton, Manitoba. Samson begins the EP with "The Last And," set at Riverton Early Middle School, where a teacher ponders the disintegration of her affair with the principal. "Petition" takes the form of an online petition (www.ipetitions.com/petition/rivertonrifle/ ) by local citizens to induct native son Reggie "The Rifle" Leach, member of the legendary mid-70s Philadelphia Flyers, into the Hockey Hall of Fame. In the closing song, "Stop Error," set to a chorale by J. S. Bach, a young adult in an old house on Provincial Road 222 uses a computer to search for solace and a way to describe the world.

Provincial Road 222 by John K. Samson will be released on limited edition 7-inch vinyl and through digital download on September 21 by Epitaph/ANTI-Records in North America.